All Dogs in England to Be Fitted with Microchips by 2016

Posted by Greg Scoblete at 6:31 AM

While it may be a conspiratorial fever dream among some in the U.S., "microchipping" is coming to the UK:

Come 2016, English and Welsh authorities will require all of the country's pups to have embedded microchips, so they can be returned to their owners if ever they run astray. The United Kingdom's Environment Department says some 60 percent of the country's 8 million dogs already have the tags, but beginning in three years, owners who don't spring for the device could be forced to pay fines of up to £500 (about $780). Cat microchipping will remain optional, since felines are less likely to wander outdoors.

Frankly, if the Internet has taught us anything it's that cats are the real menace here. Do we really want them running wild and untraceable?